In the Time of the
Butterflies
Historical Context and Themes
Julia Alvarez: Life
• Born in the US in 1950
• Returned to Dominican Republic with family at
3 months old
• Fled DR in 1960 with parents at age 10 when
her father participated in coup to overthrow
Trujillo
Julia Alvarez: Writing
• Atlantic Unbound Interview, 2000
“I know with the Mirabal sisters I felt a measure of
responsibility to tell their story. They were the four
sisters who were sacrificed to the regime, whereas my
sisters and I made it safely to this country. It was also a
desire to understand my parents' generation, who fell
victim to the dictatorship -- la generación perdida (the
lost generation), as they are known in the Dominican
Republic -- so much talent, so much energy and faith, so
many lives gone to waste. I needed to understand and to
redeem the time for myself.”
Julia Alvarez: Writing and Cultural
Differences between US & DR
•
Salon.com Interview, 1998
Q: A more important cultural difference between the United States and the Dominican Republic,
where you were born, is the way that each culture views its writers — particularly its women
writers. You’ve said that after your first novel, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” was
published, your mother didn’t talk to you for several months. Why was that?
A:I think it was for a variety of reasons. A lot had to do with the fact that I come from a culture in
which women were not encouraged to speak up.
Maxine Hong Kingston was very helpful to me. She begins “The Woman Warrior” by saying: “My
mother told me never, ever to repeat this story.” That was such an eye-opener, because that’s the
way with many of my stories. No “once upon a time” or any of those catch phrases. I come from a
culture where women are not encouraged to speak. [Instead, they are encouraged] to keep their
mouths shut, to keep things in the family, to be the guardian of the stories and to be very careful
who they’re released to. It’s a way of understanding that stories are powerful. You know, in the
world we lived in, people “got disappeared” for saying the wrong thing. What people said
mattered. I was raised in that world, and suddenly here I am — a woman with a voice in another
language, one that we’re supposed to keep things from, you know, the gringos and the Americans.
And I have a voice and I’m saying things about women and women’s experience which are not nice.
That women have mouths and needs and bodies and problems and breakdowns and all of the stuff
that is not nice to admit and certainly not to the [Americans].
In the Time of the Butterflies:
Historical Fiction
• Historical fiction is a story that takes place
during an actual period in history
• There is some creative license pertaining to
the truth and sometimes the author appeals to
the emotional truth versus the entire factual
reality
• Much of Butterflies is grounded in fact; but
some parts are bits of legend
Butterflies: What gave them
that special courage?
• From Butterflies: A Postscript
“It was to understand that questions that I
began this story. But as happens with any story,
the characters took over, beyond polemics and
facts. They became real to my imagination. I
began to invent them.”
Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic:
Trujillo
• Born to lower middle class family in San
Cristobol
• 1916: the US sent Marines to occupy island and
protect economy
• Trujillo was a cadet in Dominican Army; during
US occupation he was trained by Marines
• By 1925, he was army’s commander in chief
Trujillo
• 1930: President Horacio Vasquez resigned after
a revolt against his government
• Trujillo ran an unopposed election
• Ran DR for next 3 decades as an Absolute
Dictator
Impact of Trujillo as Ruler
• Dominican people suffered from deprivation
and repression
• Critics suffered torture, imprisonment, loss of
property
• 1937: Order massacre of thousands of
unarmed Haitians living in the DR to racially
homogenize the DR, avenge old tensions with
Haiti, and establish firm control of borders
Impact of Trujillo as Ruler
• 1950s
• The DR faced criticism from Dominicans and other
countries
• June 14, 1959: Castro and Dominicans exiled to Cuba
led a failed invasion of the DR
• Trujillo tried to assassinate Venezuelan President
Betancourt, which fueled tensions between DR and
other countries
• Organization of American States (OAS) voted to
sever ties with DR and impose economic sanctions
on country
Underground Movement
in DR
• Gained momentum in late 50s and early 60s
• The 14th of June Movement helped conspirators gain momentum;
however when there was a plot to assassinate “El Jefe”,
"Hundreds were rounded up by SIM agents and dragged to La
Cuarenta to be tortured in the electric chair, and then thrown
naked into the La Victoria prison... The beautiful Mirabel sisters,
Maria Teresa and Minerva, were arrested along with their
husbands, two of the leaders of the June 14th Movement.”
• Mirabel sisters murdered on November 25, 1960 and is the signal
of the end for Trujillo
• Trujillo was assassinated six months after murder of Mirabels
Mirabel Sisters
Catholicism in DR
• Patron Saint of DR : Virgin of La Altagracia, the Virgin of the
Highest Grace
• Today –estimated 7.6 baptised Catholics in DR
• 1960 –
• Trujillo accused five Catholic priests of conspiracy and creating bombs
for the Anti-Trujillo Movement; two of them were deported
• Pastoral letter from Church criticizing Trujillo’s mass murder
• Mention of many saints in Butterflies
• Saint Bernadette: pious youth who was told by the Virgin Mary to dig
in mud until healing water appeared
• Saint Dominic: known for idea that communities should be centered
in the church
Gender Roles in the DR
• While women in the DR have equal rights today, including the right to
have property, the expectations of women in the 1960s was different.
• Struggle for women to get an education (like Minerva in Butterflies)
• Men praised for “machismo”
• Women expected to fulfill traditional role of caretaker and expected to
look other way at infidelity of husbands, etc.
• Beautiful women praised and Virgin Mary is the idealized figure for
women
• Today there is an increase in the number of women in the workforce and
women as head of household